Magnesium compositions containing halide and alkoxy moieties of the general formula X.sub.n Mg(OR).sub.2-n, where n is in the range of 0 &lt;n &lt;2, are known and have been found to be useful as olefin polymerization catalyst supports or components (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,602).
Several recent examples of disclosures relating to this general area of technology include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,051 to M. J. Breen et al. describes such compounds in which the R group of the alkoxy ligands is C.sub.1 -C.sub.10 alkyl which are formed by (a) preparing an adduct of a magnesium halide and an alkanol; (b) reacting the product from step (a) with metallic magnesium; and drying the product of step (b) at an elevated temperature.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,640 to V. C. Mehta describes hydrocarbon-soluble compounds of the formula ROMgX, where R is a primary 2-alkyl substituted radical containing 5 to 18 carbon atoms and X is halide. These compounds are formed by reacting activated magnesium metal with an alkyl halide in an inert solvent to form a Grignard reagent which is then reacted with an oxygen-containing compound, including an alcohol, to produce the desired compound ROMgX.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,879 describes preparation of hydrocarbyloxy magnesium halides by reacting activated magnesium metal with an oxygen-containing compound and an anhydrous hydrogen halide.